Louisiana

LSU Football Signs the No. 2 Running Back in Louisiana, Prized Recruit JT Lindsey

Published

1 year ago

December 4, 2024

LSU Football Signs the No. 2 Running Back in Louisiana, Prized Recruit JT Lindsey

Alexandria High (La.) four-star running back JT Lindsey revealed a commitment to the LSU Tigers on April 13 with Brian Kelly and Co. locking down his services.

Lindsey, the No. 2 rated running back in Louisiana and a Top 10 back in America, received an offer from the Tigers and wasted no time in pledging to the program.

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It was clear the intentions of position coach Frank Wilson. LSU had already had a commitment from the No. 1 running back in America, Harlem Berry, but taking two backs was the goal the entire time.

Now, after a dominant senior campaign, Lindsey has the entire country after blossoming into a Top 10 running back in the 2025 Recruiting Class and skyrocketing to the No. 2 back in Louisiana.

Lindsey bypassed Texas commit James Simon after becoming the No. 2 ranked running back in the Bayou State.

Now, LSU is loaded for the future at the position with both Berry and Lindsey on board.

After the news of five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood backing off of his LSU commitment last week, it left the program in a “vulnerable” spot with programs pursuing LSU’s other pledges.

That included Lindsey who quickly received phone calls from other top schools.

Lindsey confirmed last week to LSU Tigers On SI that he will not be taking any visits elsewhere and will be signing with LSU on Dec. 4 during the Early Signing Period.

Now, it’s official. He’s put pen to paper with the LSU Tigers on Wednesday.

#LSU has officially signed the No. 1 + No. 2 running backs in Louisiana.
Harlem Berry: No. 1
JT Lindsey: No. 2
The one-two punch of the future has put pen to paper and will make their way to Baton Rouge.
Frank Wilson locks down the Bayou State stars on Signing Day. pic.twitter.com/9iy6bb0hc6
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— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) December 4, 2024

It’s a massive get for the program with Lindsey barely scratching the surface. A player many believe plays above his ranking, he’s dominated the prep scene in Louisiana.

Lindsey has accumulated 1,950 yards this season with 27 total touchdowns. Now, he’s cruising through the Louisiana playoffs with a state championship on his mind.

Lindsey joins Harlem Berry as the pair of coveted running backs to sign with the Tigers on Wednesday.

The paperwork is in. LSU has officially signed the No. 1 running back in America with Metairie (La.) St. Martin’s Episcopal five-star putting pen to paper on Wednesday morning.

Berry, the No. 1 player in Louisiana, will make his way to Baton Rouge as the highest ranked running back since Leonard Fournette 10 years ago.

It’s a monumental day for Brian Kelly and Co. with the program winning out for the Bayou State star.

The paperwork is in. #LSU has officially signed the No. 1 RB in America: Harlem Berry.
The Louisiana native has put pen to paper with the Tigers during the Early Signing Period.
Frank Wilson gets his guy with Berry set to make his way to Baton Rouge.
A monumental signing. pic.twitter.com/Lq2vo57w6L
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— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) December 4, 2024

The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder took Louisiana by storm during his prep career and will now look to carry the momentum over to Baton Rouge.

“We’re real excited,” Berry’s father told On3 Sports. “We can’t wait to make this thing official. The LSU staff has made this whole experience unforgettable for our family. Harlem is ready to show up and show out.”

Berry verbally committed to position coach Frank Wilson and Co. on Jan. 3 with the Louisiana native remaining locked in with the Tigers ever since.

He’s stayed loyal to his pledge, visited Baton Rouge routinely and how now made things official after putting pen to paper.

On3 Sports’ Take: “Harlem Berry is the most electric running back in the 2025 cycle, with the ability to be a game-changer in the passing game. He possesses elite burst and effortless movement skills. He transfers his outstanding top end speed onto the field in a functional way and is a threat to take it to the house on any touch. For a young back, he displays outstanding vision, reads blocks and bursts through the line to the second level. The game moves slow for him at the prep level. He has the ability to run through contact and shows balance that belies his size. During the summer prior to his senior season, he showcased advanced pass catching skills and could legitimately line up at receiver. — Cody Bellaire, On3 National Scout

Paul Finebaum: LSU, Brian Kelly in a “Really Bad Spot” Moving Forward

LSU Dishes Out Offer to No. 1 Quarterback in America

Nick Saban Calls LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a “Sleeper” Ahead of 2024 Season

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.

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Louisiana

Louisiana GOP races to keep an exonerated Black man from taking office in New Orleans

Published

6 hours ago

April 17, 2026

Press Room

Louisiana GOP races to keep an exonerated Black man from taking office in New Orleans

The Louisiana House Judiciary Committee April 16 passed a bill essentially eliminating New Orleans’ clerk of criminal court just weeks before Calvin Duncan, a Black man who was wrongfully imprisoned for decades before being elected to the position last year, is set to take office.

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Louisiana

Parole committee for people convicted by nonunanimous juries advances

Published

19 hours ago

April 16, 2026

Press Room

$Parole committee for people convicted by nonunanimous juries advances$

Incarcerated people with nonunanimous jury convictions would be able to send an application for parole to the committee within its first year.

Veronica Camenzuli
| LSU Manship School News Service

A Louisiana bill to review nonunanimous jury convictions advanced in a Senate committee.
The bill would create a temporary committee to recommend parole for incarcerated individuals.
The law allowing nonunanimous verdicts, rooted in an 1898 law to dilute Black jurors’ votes, was abolished in 2018.
Democrats and advocacy groups oppose the bill, arguing it does not go far enough to correct past injustices.

BATON ROUGE — A bill that would allow a committee to recommend parole to incarcerated Louisiana residents who received convictions through nonunanimous jury verdicts advanced 4-3 along party lines in a Senate judiciary committee.

Senate Bill 215 would allow the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to create a committee to review the appeal records of cases with nonunanimous convictions.

Incarcerated people with nonunanimous jury convictions would be able to send an application for parole to the committee within its first year. The committee would end after three years.

Democrats and advocacy groups opposed the bill, saying it did not go far enough to correct the problems.

The bill is meant to address possibly unjust convictions that are no longer legal in Louisiana after a constitutional amendment requiring unanimous verdicts passed in 2018.

The original law, allowing for convictions on as little as a 9-3 vote, was part of the 1898 constitutional convention, and it was designed to dilute Black jurors’ votes.

Louisiana changed the requirement to a 10-2 vote during the 1973 constitutional convention. Oregon, the only other state that allowed nonunanimous juries, had the same requirement.

Under the new bill, clerks of court would provide applicants with their records free of charge, and district attorneys and victims could respond at hearings.

Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Mandeville, who wrote the bill, said the legislation was a compromise between district attorneys who believed in the validity of convictions and criminal justice advocates.

“There’s likely not a way that either of those groups can come to a full consensus, but I think it was important to have the discussions and to continue to have the discussions,” McMath said.

Bradley R. Burget, president of the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association, supported the bill.

“We’re not exactly happy with it,” Burget said. “There’s a lot of the members of the DA’s association that may not be 100% for this, but I think this is something that they can live with.”

Zachary Daniels, the association’s executive director, liked the bill’s provision giving the committee authority to determine which nonunanimous convictions are just since “many of these contain strong evidence and are valid convictions where the prosecutor played by the rules at the time.”

Before the legislative session, the association found at least 1,215 cases a committee could analyze.

Daniels said it would be impossible to retry all of these cases because witnesses, officers and victims may no longer be available, and evidence may no longer exist.

The extensive list of issues the committee could consider includes the length of jury deliberations, the strength of the state’s case, the effectiveness of the defense attorney and evidence of racism.

Former Rep. Randal Gaines, who is now chair of the Democratic Party of Louisiana, filed a similar bill in 2022 that included the same list of issues that could be reviewed.

Herman Evans, who spent 37 years in prison after a nonunanimous jury convicted him in 1989 for a second-degree murder he did not commit, opposed the bill. Even after the perpetrator confessed in 2012, Evans did not get a hearing until 2024.

“That bill ain’t going to do nothing,” Evan said. “They’ve got the parole board. They’ve got the clemency board. It’s about the same board. And it costs about the same if you bring them back and let them get denied.”

Daniels said the expected cost to implement the bill is $1.8 million, based on a study resolution written for the 2025 legislative session by Sen. Charles Owen, R-Rosepine.

Owen also filed House Bill 219 that would allow courts to have resentencing hearings for nonunanimous convictions. The House Committee on Administration has not heard the bill yet.

One issue that arose in the meeting was the governor’s impact on the committee.

The governor would appoint to the committee three retired appellate court judges or Louisiana Supreme Court justices, one retired district attorney or assistant district attorney and one retired public defender.

The district attorney and public defender appointees would come from a list of three nominations from the Louisiana District Attorneys Association and the state public defender.

Although all five members would need to agree that a conviction was unfair, the current bill would allow the governor to make final decisions on releasing applicants.

The current bill does not provide details on the governor’s power. Daniels said the bill would eventually include that language after input from attorneys from the governor’s office.

Daniels also noted that there may be some conflict between the committee’s final decision and Gov. Jeff Landry’s tough-on-crime approach.

Sarah Gozalo of the Promise of Justice Initiative expressed concerns about the governor’s ultimate power.

“If we find that miscarriage of justice, the solution is, we will ask the governor — the one person who, in 2018, opposed getting rid of nonunanimous jurors,” Gozalo said.

Other opponents of the bill suggested keeping the bill in committee until it was amended to address their concerns.

Bruce Reilly, deputy director of Voice of the Experienced, and Erica Navalance, a criminal defense attorney, recommended adding post-conviction evidence to the records the committee sees to prove claims of ineffective defense counsel or prosecutorial misconduct.

McMath declined to defer the bill.

“I think that holding it up in this committee doesn’t necessarily give the chance to continue to move on through the process, where we all know that things sometimes can change and get new input,” McMath said.

Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, who had a similar bill in 2025 that did not pass, objected to the bill’s advancement.

“Just know that this is not an easy objection for me,” Duplessis said. “And if this bill does advance, I want to continue, or at least I want to work with you, to try to find a solution, because it’s been stated repeatedly, we’re not quite there.”

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Louisiana

Herrmann’s resilience anchors Louisiana’s pitching staff

Published

1 day ago

April 16, 2026

Press Room

Herrmann’s resilience anchors Louisiana’s pitching staff

LAFAYETTE — Louisiana’s success on the mound this season has started with one name at the top of the rotation: Andrew Herrmann.

The fifth-year senior has been the backbone of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ pitching staff, leading the nation in innings pitched (63.2), starts (10) and complete games (three). His durability and consistency have helped stabilize a Louisiana team that has relied heavily on its arms throughout the year.

Herrmann’s journey to this point, however, hasn’t been smooth.

Throughout his collegiate career, he battled shoulder injuries that impacted his velocity and threatened to derail his development. Instead of fading, Herrmann adjusted, dedicating significant time to rehabilitation and refining his mechanics.

He credits pitching coach Taylor Sandefur for helping him regain form and confidence on the mound.

The work has paid off, as Herrmann has emerged not only as a statistical leader, but also as an emotional cornerstone for the team.

“This team, I mean the amount of hours we put out on the baseball field just working together,” Herrmann said. “I’d die for this team. I’d die for each one of those guys. … Just being able to work with those guys and see the effort that they put in each day has really kind of drawn me to it.”

For Herrmann, the season is about more than numbers. In his final year, his focus is on leaving a lasting impact on the program and helping elevate those around him.

Louisiana will look to continue its momentum this weekend with a three-game Sun Belt road series at Troy. The series opener is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.

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